Leo Ignatius Higdon, Jr. is an academic administrator and former Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

 executive. He became president of Connecticut College

Connecticut College

Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...

 in 2006. He was previously president of the College of Charleston

College of Charleston

The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...

 (from October 2001 to June 2006) and Babson College

Babson College

Babson College is a private business school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts near Boston.- History :Babson College was founded by Roger Babson on September 3, 1919, as the Babson Institute. It was renamed "Babson College" in 1969...

.

From 1968 until 1970, he and his wife served for two years as Peace Corps

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

 volunteers in Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

. In 1972, he received an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

.

Beginning in 1973, Higdon worked for the investment banking

Investment banking

An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...

 company Salomon Brothers

Salomon Brothers

Salomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910 by three brothers along with a clerk named Ben Levy, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm Phibro Corporation and then became Salomon Inc. Eventually...

. He eventually became vice chairman and head of the firm's global investment banking division.

He is a member of the board of directors of:

• Association of American Colleges and Universities
  Association of American Colleges and Universities
  The Association of American Colleges and Universities is a national association that is committed to improving undergraduate education and advancing liberal education as the preferred philosophy of education for all students...
  
  
• Eaton Vance Corporation
• HealthSouth Corporation